These stained glass windows were created by Tom Deny in 2007. The windows were inspired by Thomas Traherne and his writings.

Thomas Traherne was a priest, poet and spiritual writer. Born in Hereford in 1637, he almost certainly attended Hereford Cathedral School; this was at a time when the city was torn by civil war. After completing his studies at Brasenose College, Oxford, he returned to Herefordshire in 1657, as rector of Credenhill, a small village five miles west of the city. Here he ministered for sixteen years, as well as participating in the work of this cathedral.

Early in 1674, Traherne left Herefordshire for Teddington, where he continued to serve as chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgeman. He died later that year and lies buried under the reading desk in Teddington Church.

Trahere’s search for happiness led him to see God’s love revealed in creation. He speaks of this vision in his writings, largely unpublished at his time of death. It is thanks to the twentieth century rediscovery of his manuscripts that he is now celebrated as a spiritual writer of great depth and beauty.

The Traherne windows represent themes in Traherne’s thinking:

Love for the Herefordshire countryside

Seeing the cross of Christ in the world around us

Insistence on the importance of love in human lives

Love for the city of Hereford and its inhabitants*

*from a signboard next to the windows

After breakfast we headed to Hereford to see the Cathedral, Mappa Mundi and chained library. The car park we chose wasn’t optimal  and as we stepped out of the car it started to rain lightly. Mr C was striding out leaving mum and I to catch up with him every now and then when he briefly stopped. I found out that my shower proof coat was not  up to the more persistent rain that developed as we were walking. Due to the quick pace there was no opportunity for me to rummage in my bag to get my umbrella out. By the time we arrived at the Cathedral I was absolutely soaked and my hair felt terrible clinging to my head.

The Cathedral has a special feel and I had forgotten how wonderful some of the stained glass windows are. I remembered to get my pilgrimage passport stamped and was presented with a lovely red stamp rather than the black and white footprint stickers I had received from other Cathedrals. When we had finished exploring the Cathedral it wasn’t quite lunch time so we stepped out into Hereford and visited the nearby Hereford Museum and Art Gallery. It had two interesting temporary exhibitions. The first was biographic display of Alfred Watkins who wrote the controversial book on Ley Lines ‘The Old Straight Track’. The second exhibition was entitled ‘Round the Year From Stonewall Hill. A journey in Time and Space’ featuring a 12 month panorama of paintings by Mary Rennell and a modern day response to her paintings by Richard Gilbert. Also featured are photographs by Brian Griffiths. I enjoyed the two individual exhibitions but found the exploration of Mary Rendell’s paintings more fulfilling because several artists portrayed the same landscape viewpoints from different perspectives.

Afterwards I persuaded Mr C that we should go back to the Cathedral for lunch. I had checked out the café options as we left the Cathedral and knew that there was something for all of us to enjoy. I chose a turkey bap with salad and mayo.

Amply replete, we strolled back through town in the direction of the car and along the way I spotted Boots where I made a detour to purchase a hairbrush. I hadn’t realised mum had followed me in rather than staying with Mr C. As I was leaving Boots with my purchase mum caught up with me all flustered because she couldn’t find Mr C. He wasn’t where she left him. I used my emergency purchase to sort my hair out (I felt so much) better and then I focused on the task of figuring out where Mr C had decided to hide himself in plain view, probably waving at us as we had our backs to him and wondering why we couldn’t see him…

All reunited we made our way to the car stopping off at Waterstones along the way. I couldn’t find a book I was looking for but I spotted ‘Walking the Great North Line: From Stonehenge to Lindisfarne to Discover the Mysteries of Our Ancient Past’. It had Stonehenge, Lindisfarne and walking all in one book so I just had to add it to my book collection. It was only later as I was browsing through it that I noticed early in the book it makes reference to Alfred Watkins. A strange coincidence.

Back at the car, we drove to the Hop Pocket shopping outlet where I enjoyed a lovely cake in the café and purchased a cardi. I was in a bit of a dilemma between two colour shades and which would match the outfits I had in mind. Eventually I plumped. Later I found it matched the skirt I had with me so my memory was correct. I also saw some lovely heart mats but they were slightly imperfect and the last  ones so I chose to leave them as there was no discount forthcoming.

Our evening meal was at a local pub, The Nags Head, as recommended by the proprietress of the Cotford Hotel. I chose Fish and Chips followed by Lemon Sorbet, both were delicious. We returned to the hotel for a nightcap in the residents lounge which for the first time had other people sitting there. It was nice to chat with others for a change.

The Consistory Court Stalls were reconstructed in 1934 from fragments from the 14th centuray stalls in the choir left over after their rearrangement by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s.

They were used as seats for the bishop and his officers when holding church courts.  The misericords, or carvings under the seats, are of 20th century workmanship except for the one on the right, which is 14th century and shows a wyvern (a mythical beast) with a snail on leaf.

The figures on the lectern represent the Virgin Mary and her mother Saint Anne. *

*From Cathedral information board.

This is the place where prayers were offered for the soul of John Stanbury, Bishop of Hereford 1453 – 74.

The refurbished shrine of St Thomas of Hereford has been a focus of pilgramage since the end of the 13th century. Born in 1218, Thomas Cantilupe went on to be a much-loved Bishop of Hereford. The coloured hanging either side of the tomb tell the story of his life.

The stone and marble tomb base is one of the best preserved medieval shrines in England and one of only a few that escaped destruction during during the reformation. Thomas’ body rested here from 1287-1349. Many miracles of healing were reported to have taken place.  Pilgrims still journey to the site to light candles and leave prayers.

More information about St Thomas can be found here.

Synopsis (from book cover):

The Hereford mappa mundi is the largest an most elaborate world map surviving from before teh fifteenth century.  Designed at Lincoln by one Richard of Holdingham, it was made for Hereford in about 1300 and Hereford has been its home ever since.

There has been much speculation as to the identity of the author of the map, and the purposes for which it might have been made.  More than just a map, it can be seen as an encuuclopaedia of distant lands, their peoples, myths and natural history, all held to gether within a framework of Christian belief – the figure of Christ in judgement is placed in a prominent position at the top of the map.  It presents an illuminating view of the world as it appeared to a cultured and will read person in theirteenth-century England.

In this book P. D. A. Harvey provides an authoritative introduction to the map, based on recent work, showing how it was made, what it depicts and what sources the author used.  Many detailed photgraphs, specially commiddioned for the purpose, together with illustrations of othe related medieval maps, accompany the text.

Book Review:

I picked this book up in Hereford Cathedral, when I visited the Mappa Mundi.  The book dated 2010 is an updated version of an earlier book that was first published in 1996.  The book covers the most recent research and findings regarding the map.

The book covers the making of the map, the history of the map and sources of information for the content of the map.  The book also sets the map into context with other similar world maps.  The text is enhanced by many colour photographs showing the Hereford map and other world maps of this type.

I found the book very interesting and recommended it to anyone who is interested in the subject.